i3 - March/April 2018 - 46

Business

By Scott Steinberg

Netflix

Netflix's use of actors portraying hordes
of protesters taking a stand against the concept of immortality and a company called
Psychasec, whose services include solutions
for transporting your consciousness into
someone else's body. Psychasec - which also
had a booth featuring lifelike bodies behind
glass - is a fictional company, however. These
stunts were staged to promote popular sci-fi
show Altered Carbon, which aired on the
online streaming video service in February.

Samsung Galaxy

Getting Creative:
Marketing Consumer Tech

rom high-flying displays of drones to pop-up experiences,
consumer technology marketing methods continue to
evolve, diversify and become more eye-catching than ever.
At CES 2018, many of the companies showcased new strategies.
Just a few new tactics exhibitors leveraged at the show included
staging mock protests, choreographed drone performances on the
Las Vegas strip, and partnering with influencers to livestream
speeches and press conference videos, all in hopes of grabbing the
attention of attendees. Just a few out of the box strategies include:
Canon USA

"The most compelling pieces of promotional content will always be ones that
evoke powerful emotions," explains Rob
Pignataro, director of strategic new business at Canon USA, whose approach to
advertising included featuring partner
showcases and live online chats with industry thought leaders. A few of its visionary
CES partners included FoxTales, an experiential marketing company; Fellow Robots,
showing retail robots scanning inventory
using Canon cameras; and Brizi, who used
its remote-controlled simulated stadium
camera to offer in-seat fan experiences.
46

MARCH/APRIL 2018

Canon also showed two concept cameras
including a single lens unit that can swivel
360 degrees and use AI to track faces.

Huawei Mobile

Huawei Mobile's partnerships with online influencers Linus Sebastian, Jonathan Morrison
and Judner Aura included sponsored Instagram
posts, Facebook Live streaming videos, and
visits to the company's booth. These promotional spots helped generate positive goodwill
and impression with end-users for the business. They were viewed and consumed by far
more people than images and videos shared
via the company's own official online channels.

Intel

Intel set a new Guinness World Records*
title for the most drones airborne simultaneously when it flew 110 Intel® Shooting Star™
Mini drones indoors before Intel CEO Brian
Krzanich's keynote. Also a display of dozens
of flying drones took to the night sky above
the Bellagio hotel, courtesy of Intel. Whizzing
around to displays of music and lights, the
high-tech (and highly choreographed routine)
helped illustrate the power of the company's
smart computing technology.

Kia

Kia's #BoundlessForAll campaign promoted
practical uses for smart car technology
over advanced technical features. Highlights
included illustrations of how automatic steering
features can take the wheel and drive while you
videoconference with friends and family, or
safety features that can divert traffic away from
disasters such as fires and floods so that emergency vehicles can get through when needed.

Clearly, consumer technology marketers
will continue to get more creative as
they look to capture audiences' increasingly elusive attention. Going forward,
expect more clever and cutting-edge
campaigns - a trend other leaders in
the field would do well to tap into.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Craig Durling/ZUMA Wire/Alamy

FO RWA R D ST R AT EG I E S

At the Samsung Galaxy Experience Zone,
attendees could wear virtual reality headsets
and enjoy the simulated experience of skiing
or snowboarding down a mountain. Designed
to promote awareness for Samsung's solutions
in the high-tech category, the stunt helped the
company establish greater mindshare in an
increasingly competitive field. CTA projects
record-setting sales for AR/VR headsets and
eyewear in 2018 (expected to move 4.9 million
units and top $1.2 billion in America this year
alone) - a market where Samsung is vying to
position itself at the forefront.

i3 - March/April 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - March/April 2018